Friday, June 16, 2006

White Sox - Acquired Riske

A pure need-for-need trade. The Red Sox have been short on lefty specialists lately, with Lenny Dinardo and the backup plan, Mike Holtz, residing on the disabled list. Lopez has had an up-and-down career, the “up” being a wonderful 2003 season for the Rockies and the “down” mainly being his play since, especially his role as a LORGY (Lefty One Run GuY) for the Diamondbacks last season. Lopez is dominating in the minors this season, though he also pitched well in AAA last season, too.

Riske hasn’t pitched much, but he has a solid track record and should be one of the key relievers for Chicago as long as his back doesn’t become a persistent issue. Politte, Hermanson, and even Jeff Nelson are all injured at the moment, so Riske becomes that much more important. Riske’s a good pitcher and a solid addition even when everybody’s healthy. The team had no interest or need for a LOOGY - Neal Cotts is a Lefty Many Out GuY and Matt Thornton, though of significantly lesser quality than Cotts, can also go a number of batters. Picking up a player like Riske for free is a nice move for the team.

The Tigers really need to start making finds like this instead of relying on Todd Jones to turn things around. When everyone’s healthy, the White Sox bullpen will be rock-solid.

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According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, Riske is signed through this year for $1.8 million. He will be eligible for free agency at the end of the season. That could be some added value here, because it wouldn't be a huge risk to offer him arbitration (unless he's just awful or injured) and the White Sox could net a draft pick here.

So what does Lefty Lopez do in his first outing for the BoSox? Walk the first lefty hitter he was supposed to handle (Justin Morneau) on four pitches, which eventually made it possible for the Twins to extend their lead to three runs, and which gave Joe Nathan (who was struggling) some breathing room in the ninth that he wound up needing.

eh, this trade is no big deal, but the White Sox got the slightly better player. Look at their ZIPS + their performance so far, and there's not much difference here. If Javier fills a need (loogy-type), then it's a fine deal for Boston.

"If Javier fills a need (loogy-type), then it's a fine deal for Boston."

I'm just curious, though -- who would look at what Boston's relievers have done this year, and conclude that what they really need is a loogy-type? Wouldn't you think they would be looking for... I don't know... somebody who knows how to pitch? Because, besides Papelbon and Timlin, all I see is this:

It could, Vince, but I wouldn't count on it. The Sox almost never offer salary arbitration for the purpose of getting a pick any more.

Anthony, I'd have to go back and look at this, but it seems to me the reason the White Sox haven't been doing this lately is because all of their FAs would have commanded much more through arbitration than the team has been willing to pay. That probably wouldn't be the case with Riske.

I think those are all of the White Sox' free agents beyond arb-eligible years. Forgive me if I missed any. With the rules of arbitration being what they are, I don't know that I would have offered it to any of the guys the Sox chose not to, either. Probably Graffanino, maybe Johnson without the benefit of hindsight.

Granted, we don't know what they would have done with guys like Ray Durham or Kenny Lofton, who were traded midseason and would have been Type A free agents. But the Sox seem to have exercised good judgement in balancing the desire to pick up an extra draft pick and avoiding getting stuck with handing out an oversized paycheck.

I think the Sox front office has done a decent job of allocating money and contracts. Williams is not afraid to pull the trigger and not afraid to fail. Riske will most likely be around till the end of the year and then move on.